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DNA Test Is Said to Prove Bobby Fischer Was Not Girl’s Father

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DNA Test Is Said to Prove Bobby Fischer Was Not Girl’s Father

By Dylan Loeb McClain August 17, 2010 3:25 pmAugust 17, 2010 3:25 pm

Associated PressBobby Fischer in 1971.

A paternity test ordered by the Icelandic Supreme Court to determine if the chess champion Bobby Fischer was the father of a 9-year-old Filipino girl came back negative on Tuesday, according to people involved in the dispute over his estate.

Officials took a sample on July 5 from Mr. Fischer’s remains in the cemetery of Laugardaelir Church in Iceland to determine if he was the father of Jinky Young, the Filipino girl.

Since Mr. Fischer’s death in January 2008, at age 64, there has been a fight over his estate involving Marilyn Young, Jinky’s mother; Miyoko Watai, a Japanese woman who says she married Mr. Fischer in 2004 and is his widow; and Mr. Fischer’s nephews, Alexander Targ and Nicholas Targ, who live in California.

Arni Vilhjalmsson, the lawyer representing Ms. Watai, said in a telephone interview from Reykjavik that he had the test results in front of him. “I can confirm that the results of the biological D.N.A. tests were that it is impossible that Mr. Fischer was the father of this child,” he said.

Mr. Fischer shot to worldwide fame in 1972 when he won the world chess championship by defeating the Russian Boris Spassky in a match in Reykjavik that played out against the backdrop of the cold war.

His estate is said to be worth at least $2 million; Mr. Fischer, who lived a nomadic life that ended in Iceland, left no will.

Ms. Young filed her claim in November. Among the documents she provided were pictures of her, Mr. Fischer and Jinky, as well as postcards to Jinky signed “Daddy” that she said were from Mr. Fischer. (Friends of Mr. Fischer’s who know his handwriting have said the postcards appeared genuine.) She has also produced records showing that Mr. Fischer gave her money in 2006 and 2007 to help support her and Jinky.

Nevertheless, Mr. Fischer’s friends in Iceland had said they doubted that he was Jinky’s father, pointing out, among other things, that there was no physical resemblance between the two. They said they thought that Mr. Fischer played the role of father out of kindness and concern for the mother and child.

Calls and an e-mail to Thordur Bogason, the lawyer in Iceland representing Ms. Young and Jinky, were not returned.

The fight over the estate now seems to be between Ms. Watai and Mr. Fischer’s nephews. Earlier this year, the Icelandic Supreme Court rejected Ms. Watai’s marriage claim as insufficient, though she supplied a copy of her marriage license that had been certified by the Japanese embassy. Ms. Watai has declined requests for an interview, but Mr. Vilhjalmsson said that he was planning to file additional evidence in support of Ms. Watai’s marital claim in the next few weeks. Mr. Fischer’s nephews had no comment.

Mr. Fischer was detained in Japan in 2004 and threatened with deportation to the United States for violating sanctions against the former Yugoslavia by playing an exhibition match there in 1992. He was allowed to emigrate to Iceland after the country granted him citizenship in March 2005.

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